This is the official online resource area for the Linux Kernel Hacking 101 talk on Thursday, March 19, 2015 at NVidia Toastmasters.

This post is to let you, the attendee know what to expect from the talk, make the additional resources easily accessible in one place, and provide space for additional discussion.

This talk will familiarize you with the activities and habits of a Linux kernel contributor. It is intended to be entry level to people who already know a little about programming. While it’s helpful to be familiar with open source tools and methods (such as the C programming language, Git, and IRC), it isn’t necessary. Most NVidia technical employees probably already know enough to follow the talk easily.

If you are unfamiliar with the idea of an operating system kernel and what it does, please visit this link for a quick intro:

1. The creative cycle of coding: finding your contribution, creating and delivering your work, gathering and incorporating feedback
2. Communicating with team members and community: channels of communication and learning, purpose and benefits of working with others
3. Coding your changes: ways of working that are peculiar to the kernel, or helpful in its context
4. Delivering your patch: making your work available and accessible to the human stewards of the codebase

The talk should take about 15-20m.

It is not possible to give sufficient detail about any of the individual technologies and skills that go into the craft of kernel and open source participation, much less all of them. There is a wealth of excellent tutorials and information already online. A list of these has been compiled in the slide deck, and is reproduced below for easy access.